The Last Stand
Comments by nightbird
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On The Record for April 17
(anonymous)
April 19, 2008 at 8:39 a.m.
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I can only imagine that the dog chasing birds was a “bird-dog”. What is this town coming to? What is next? Labrador Retrievers chasing sticks or worse yet – tennis balls. This community is going to the dogs one paw at a time.
On Triple Crown up to bat
(anonymous)
April 1, 2008 at 6:45 p.m.
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I am not advocating getting rid of Triple Crown Sports totally, but I am all for setting realistic boundaries. I think Dave King’s Triple Crown Sports needs Steamboat Springs as much if not more than Steamboat Springs needs Dave King. To be fair Dave King has been accommodating to the request that have been made. We asked him for more youth orientated tournaments. We asked that he limit the hours of play. He accommodated our requests. He asked for more fields to host yet more teams and improvements be made to some local fields. We accommodated Dave King and opened up fields at the middle school and high school with improvements.
Dave King, however, threatens or we are told by the Chamber that he is threatening to pull out of Steamboat Springs altogether if he does not get what he asks for. The Chamber is often way too quick to play the “fear” card associated with the loss of Triple Crown Sports revenue. This is important but it does not have to be framed in the context of fear. Dave threatening to leave is likely more posturing in negotiations than it is reality. With everything this community has been through with Triple Crown Sports, if Dave thought Steamboat Springs was just too much of a hassle he would have moved his events to other towns long ago. He has not. Dave is smart about his business and understands the value Steamboat Springs is to his business.
Steamboat Springs is good for Dave’s business because it is a beautiful place with a lot of family friendly things to do. The people who sign-up for a Triple Crown Sports tournament do so in large part because it is being held in Steamboat Springs. Try having the same tournament in Gallop, New Mexico and I am sure the participation would be much lower.
Dave, however, needs to be reminded from time to time that he and Triple Crown Sports are guests. It is OK to tell a guest politely that they are welcome, however, we can not accommodate everything they ask for. If we are clear about our boundaries and why these boundaries are important to us – Dave won’t be happy but he will respect them.
Not responding to the “fear” real or imagined that Triple Crown Sports will stop coming to Steamboat Springs if they do not get what they ask for is evidence of effective leadership. I hope City Council and the Chamber can exhibit this type of community leadership.
On Study eyes local economy
(anonymous)
March 16, 2008 at 8:35 a.m.
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What would be so bad about having a “big box” locate down valley in a community such as Craig? If a Lowe’s or a Home Depot decided to call Craig home – you bet I would drive the 42 miles. It beats the 90+ miles I am driving now. I know that there will be some that would argue the loss of sales-tax collections would impact Steamboat Springs. Can you lose something you currently do not have?
I think Craig would welcome such a business. In addition the K-Mart in Craig is likely going to have a slow and painful death as a result of the Super Wal-Mart that opened last November. It seems to me that Craig will in a few years have the land as well as an empty 130,000 sq/ft building shell to offer a “big box”.
We all need to remember that the road between Craig and Steamboat Springs runs in both directions. There is no need to be greedy. We are all neighbors in the Yampa Valley
On Our view: Winches worth a whirl
(anonymous)
February 24, 2008 at 8:38 a.m.
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An editorial about winches on Sheriff’s Office vehicles – give me a break! I just looked at who is on the editorial board - this is not community leadership – this is just silly waste of newsprint and ink. In the future please try and stick to some “real” community issues. I hope that the Pilot Editorial Board can do better in the future.
On Small dip in tourism numbers
(anonymous)
February 16, 2008 at 4:24 p.m.
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Is there a need to worry? Well it depends what kind of business you are in. We will likely see more and more of this type of trend. The Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association uses a tool called the Lodging Barometer to forecast lodging occupancy in condos and hotels. It is far from a perfect tool but it is the best that exist.
The number of second homes is growing. Although the people in these second homes do not use them all the time – they do use them or at least their friends and family do. What this means is that an increasing number of visitors are here but they are not staying in hotels and condos. They ski – they shop – they eat – they just do not sleep in a rented bed located in a condo or hotel. This trend is a bummer if you are in the lodging business. It is also not great news for the City’s sales tax collections because the sales and accommodation tax charged on lodging.
What is the solution? I guess just get more and more people here. With this approach, however, we all know that a small percentage of these “more people” will fall in love with this place and subsequently want a second home.
This cycle is good for construction and real estate agents – but it seems to me a crazy cycle we seem doomed to follow. Any suggestions?
On Kerry Hart: What good are the humanities?
(anonymous)
January 27, 2008 at 2:03 p.m.
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From my perspective “sbvor” writes a lot but often gets in the way of his/her message because of the over use of words such as “socialist”, totalitarianism”, “fascist”, “Marxist” , or whatever. “sbvor” is free to use such words – but I think they often result in the comment itself being more of a scripted cartoon than a carefully constructed opinion.
On Towny Anderson: Unanimous ruling
(anonymous)
December 2, 2007 at 6:21 p.m.
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Dear Steamvent
If Towny wanted to write a thoughtful editorial every week for the next 10 years what would be wrong with that? If the only voices we hear are those who we agree with something of value is lost. Open and honest exchange on civic issues is of great value. I am encouraged that Towny has the civic disposition to be willing to write a letter to the editor and sign his name. I hope he continues to engage this community in civic dialogue.
On Tom Ross: Turn and face the change
(anonymous)
November 10, 2007 at 10:19 a.m.
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Well said Tom. To see this level of civic involvement from people in their 30’s with families is great. I have been here a long time as well and the change that has recently taken place in City Council reminds me of the days when the likes of Paula Cooper-Black, Mary Brown and Rita Valentine took on leadership roles in this community. They were our peers.
At the time there were those that thought these young upstarts would ruin this place because they did not know enough and their priorities were somewhat different. You and I both know that Steamboat Springs survived. The reality is that we all win with greater civic involvement. If for nothing more than their willingness to become involved they have my support.
On Anderson top fundraiser
(anonymous)
November 3, 2007 at 8:35 a.m.
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Looking at the list of campaign contributors for both Cari and Towny I do not see any obvious “special-interest”. Although I do not know some of the people listed, I do know many. From my perspective there is not a “bad apple” on either list. What I see is a list of people who are passionate and care for this community. We all need to remember that Wednesday morning after all the votes are counted, regardless of who wins there is no perfect candidate and we still get to call each other friends and neighbors.
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On Are you changing spring or summer vacation plans because of rising gas prices? (anonymous)
April 29, 2008 at 9:23 p.m.
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Over spring break last week there were a lot more people in town than I have seen in previous years. These were locals who just decided not to spend the cash on a trip at this time. Financial uncertainty about the future causes consumer confidence to take a nose dive. You can bet people will be staying closer to home not just because of the price of gas. Vacations are a luxury not a necessity. I think we can plan on a quieter summer and winter season.